4/16/13

An injured man is loaded into an
ambulance after two bombs went off near the finish line of the fabled
Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15. For the latest details, read CNN's developing news story.

NEW: "You can't let people control your life like that," a victim says

NEW: A doctor describes going to help after running 26 miles herself

An 8-year-old boy, 29-year-old woman and grad student from China die

Authorities say they don't have any suspects or a motive for the attack

(CNN) -- A 29-year-old woman, remembered by her
mother for her "heart of gold." A Boston University graduate student
who'd gone to enjoy the marathon's finish with two classmates. An
8-year-old boy, cheering on runners with his family.

All of them, gone.

Their lives were snuffed
out by twin blasts at the tail end of Monday's Boston Marathon. Thirteen
others -- out of 183 hospitalized -- had limbs amputated, according to
hospital officials. The question is: Why?

More than a day later,
authorities don't have an answer. Unlike after the September 11, 2001,
attacks, no one claimed responsibility for this terrorist attack. No one
had been identified as a suspect. The attack came out of nowhere, with
no threat. Just horror.

As Richard DesLauriers,
the special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston office, put it Tuesday
afternoon: "The range of suspects and motives remains wide open."

The two identical
pressure-cooker bombs -- each with the capacity to hold six liters of
liquid, according to a Boston law enforcement source -- blew up seconds
and a short distance apart on Boston's Boylston Street. They contained
BBs and nails, the FBI's DesLauriers said, causing even more damage.

Parts of those devices
that have been recovered, along with a partial circuit board, are being
sent to an FBI facility in Quantico, Virginia. There, authorities will
try to put them back together to figure how they worked and look for
clues identifying the person or persons responsible.

Whatever investigators
find, whenever they find it, it won't take away the pain. Scores who are
not grieving loved ones are faced with a lengthy physical recovery.
There's the psychological battle as well -- living with the memories of
the deafening blasts, the carnage, the fear as they searched for loved
ones.

Ron Brassard was one of
them. One second, he was laughing and smiling. The next second, there
was a roaring blast, originating from about 10 feet away, and he looked
down to see a "puddle of blood." He later discovered a "chunk of the leg
was just not there." His wife was hospitalized, too, and a friend lost
both her legs.

Brassard told CNN's
Anderson Cooper he is angry. But he's also not about to let this terror
change him, any more than it already has.

"You can't let people control your life like that," Brassard said from his hospital bed. "You just can't."

Hundreds run toward carnage to help

The pressure wave from
Monday's explosions in Boston's historic Copley Square whipped the once
limp international flags straight out, as if they were caught in a
hurricane.

Some runners said they thought the first blast was a celebratory cannon. By the second, there were no such illusions.

The scene on the ground was sheer horror. Blood and unconscious people were everywhere.

Some were spectators, like Carlos Arredondo. An affiliate of the Red Cross, he tended to a man who'd lost two of his limbs.

Dr. Natalie Stavas, a
pediatric resident at Boston Children's Hospital, was near the home
stretch of the race she was running with her father when she heard the
blasts.

Despite having run 26
miles, she went over barriers and past policemen, until one stopped her.
Stavas told CNN she told him she was a doctor and pleaded, "You have to
let me help, you have to let me through."

She said she performed
CPR on the first person she encountered. For the next two, she worked to
halt their bleeding. Stavas stressed that there were hundreds of others
doing whatever they could.

"It was horrific. It was the worst thing I've ever seen," Stavas said. "It was unbelievable."

Nails, metal beads found in patients

While authorities have given no indication they know who was behind the attack, they have offered details on the devices used.

DesLauriers, from the
FBI, said the bombs were possibly placed in pressure cookers hidden
inside a backpack or another black nylon bag. Another law enforcement
official told CNN it was "likely but not certain" the bombs were on a
timer, not set off remotely by a cell phone.

Another federal law
enforcement official said both bombs were small, and initial tests
showed no C-4 or other high-grade explosive, suggesting the materials
used in the attack were crude.

And deadly.

Those killed include 8-year-old Martin Richard,
a resident of the city's Dorchester neighborhood whom babysitter
Caitlin Doyle recalled as "just all-around a wonderful kid (with) a big,
bright smile that no one could ever forget."

There was 29-year-old
Krystle Campbell, who was "fun, outgoing (and) always there to help
somebody," her grandmother Lillian Campbell said.

Lastly, there was the
Boston University graduate student from China -- whom the school and
Chinese consulate declined to identify by name -- who'd gone to see the
marathon's finish line with two classmates.

Others survived, thanks
largely to the work of emergency personnel and volunteers on-site and
scores of professionals in several world-class hospitals nearby.

Doctors removed more
than a dozen nails from one patient, and three had been struck with
metal beads slightly larger than BBs, said Dr. Ron Walls, the emergency
medicine chairman at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Back in Copley Square,
in the heart of Boston, investigators on Tuesday continued searching for
any hint that might lead them to the perpetrator.

They also pleaded for
the public's help. Did they know of anyone who made a threat involving
April 15 or the marathon? Did they hear explosions in a remote area,
possibly as a test run? And did they spot anyone near the finish line
dropping off what ended up being the two bombs?

By 5 p.m. Tuesday, the
FBI had gotten more than 2,000 tips, DesLauriers said. They'd also begun
poring over scores of photos and videos from the scene.

"We are doing this methodically," he said, "... and with a sense of urgency."

Mayor: 'We will not let terror take us over'

At one point, 11
Boston-area hospitals had 23 people in critical condition and 40 listed
as serious. There are still some fighting, with more surgeries planned.
But there is progress. In fact, according to a CNN tally, at least 100
of the 183 people who received treatment were able to go home by Tuesday
night.

How Boston and America recovers over the coming days, weeks and months remains to be seen.

As has happened before
after such terror attacks, Tuesday saw authorities responding to alerts
and threats -- in places like Dallas, Cleveland and New York -- that all
proved to be unfounded.

Security in Los Angeles
and New York has been stepped up in light of the Boston attack, and
authorities in London are reviewing measures for that city's upcoming
marathon.

Back in Massachusetts, one question is what becomes of the Boston Marathon -- the world's oldest annual marathon, dating to 1897, drawing more than 20,000 participants. Rather than shutting it down, officials promised to build the race back up.

"Next year's marathon will be even bigger and better," Gov. Deval Patrick.

That sense of defiance
was echoed by Mayor Thomas Menino. Residents and visitors to the city
might have to deal with more checks at transit stations and elsewhere.
They might have to get used to seeing more authorities out and about.
But they shouldn't change their attitudes, said the mayor.

"This tragedy is not going to stop Boston," Menino said. "We will not let terror take us over."